Dasi ia Wish hes for a Turt tle

O Once upon n a time in any a town USA U

there wa as a little g girl named D Dasia.

D Dasia loved d to watch Dora the Explorer, E Olivia the Pig, jump as h high as she e could o on the tram mpoline, and play hide e and seek with her br rother Gino o. More tha an anything g h however, Dasia D longe ed for her own o pet turt tle. She wondered w why each tim me she would g gather up the t courage e to ask, Mommy M wou uld always say no and d before sh he even got the t third word out. o She would w ask, Mommy can and like lightning Mommy w was already y r replying, N No Dasia.

Dasia knew there had to be a way to convince Mommy that she was a big girl now; she was 5 years old! After all, her friends had pets; Nellie had Peaches, a beautiful green, blue,

and yellow parrot that would squawk hello to Dasia each time she visited.

Dasias friend Ariel had a cat she named Sniffles and her friend Madison had a gigantic dog they called Tiny. Dasia knew she could take care of a pet turtle it was

Mommy that need convincing so she marched into her room, closed the door behind her and started working on a plan.

Dasia went to her closet in search of her crayons. Hmm, now where did I put those

crayons? She wondered. Dasia looked by her coloring books where they should have been but they were not there.

She looked on the shelf where she kept her collection of dolls

then to the shelf

with all of her puzzles but still she could not find her crayons. Dasia looked up at the only other shelf left and there on the top shelf was her box of crayons.

Dasia reached her little arms up as far as she could standing on her tippy toes but she still

could not reach her crayons when suddenly she lost her balance. The box of crayons and stack of paper came crashing down hitting her in the head. Ouch, she cried.

Dasia saw her guitar sitting in the corner and grabbed it strumming on the strings as if she had been playing it all along. After waiting patiently for a few minutes Dasia felt

certain that Mommy had not heard any of the noise. She picked up a red crayon

scribbled KEEP OUT on a piece of paper and stuck it to her door.

Dasia thought long and hard. There had to be something she could do, something that would show Mommy that she could care for a pet turtle but what could it be? Within

seconds Dasia had an idea. paper and wrote

Grinning from ear to ear she pulled out a piece of

#1) followed by the name Gino.

Sitting in her rocking chair gently rocking back and forth Dasia smiled as she pictured herself being extra nice to Gino. This will change Mommys mind and she will get her pet turtle after all!

Dasia jumped into her pajamas brushed her teeth and went to kiss Mommy good night. Dasia, it is only 3:30 in the afternoon why do you have your pajamas on? Dasia had gotten so lost in her plan she had forgotten the time of day or that she had not even had her snack or her dinner yet. She had to think of something to tell Mommy and fast!

Dasia laughed telling her that she had been playing dress up Whew! thought Dasia that was a close call! Snack is on the kitchen table, you silly goose! Mommy replied.

Where is Gino Mommy, can I get him a snack too? Dasia asked. Why Dasia, how nice but Gino already had his snack and is taking a nap. Dasia could not look directly into Mommys eyes for she feared Mommy would be able to see that she was up to something.

Dasia finished her snack returned to her room closing her door gently and continued

onward with her plan. Picking up a crayon she wrote

#2) New girl.

Dasia would tell Mommy about Taylor, the new girl in her class. She would tell her that Taylor had a pet hamster named Giggles and how she would be bringing Giggles to show and tell. She would tell Mommy if she had a pet she could bring it to show and tell too. Dasia thought her plan was simply brilliant.

Dasia, Gin no dinner is s ready! ca alled Momm my. Dasia ope ened her do oor gently m making s sure that her KEEP OUT O sign was w still ther re just whe en Gino bol ted past he er and star rted j jumping up p and down n on her bed. GINO screamed Dasia. D Did you not read my sign? s she scream med.

A As Dasia wrestled w with w Gino try ying to get him off her r bed she tu urned t to see Mom mmy standi ing in the doorway. d Dasia Lana ae, why are e you screa aming at yo our b brother like e that and young y lady just what is this Keep p Out sign all about? she dema anded.

Mommy I just cleaned up my room and made my bed when Gino came running in jumped up on my bed making it messy cried Dasia. I want you two in that kitchen now Mommy

scolded. Dasia and Gino marched to the kitchen as if they were toy soldiers their dinner in silence refusing to even look at one another.

eating

After dinner Mommy looked at Dasia again asking about the sign she had made and stuck on her door. Sweetheart you do know that Gino is too young to read right? Mommy sent

Dasia to her room for a time as Mommy called it, unacceptable.

out for having screamed at Gino which was,

Dasia sat on her bed and broke down into tears. She did not want Mommy to think she did not love Gino, she loved him dearly. Sometimes he didnt listen to her and she would get mad and sometimes she just wanted to play with her toys or watch her TV alone but that did not mean she did not love him.

She needed to tell Mommy and apologize to Gino for hurting his feelings but as she lay down on her bed Dasia wound up drifting off to sleep. She dreamt how she, Gino, and Cooper were playing a game of tag in the backyard. They realized that Cooper did not have a place to sleep and ventured into the garage where they found an old plastic fish tank covered with cob webs. Yech, cried Dasia, I hate spiders! Gino found some old rags

stuffed into an old milk crate and started wiping the cob webs telling Dasia that he was a

big boy and was not afraid of spiders at all!

Dasia grabbed Gino and covered him with kisses. Together they worked gathering big and small rocks. They even made a turtle swimming pond from one of Mommys old butter containers she had thrown away. Dasia picked Cooper up and placed him in his new home. He dove right into his new swimming pond as Gino and Dasia clapped their hands shouting Welcome home Cooper!

Dasia was awoken by a gentle knock upon her door; Mommy came in and sat at the edge of her bed. I am sorry, I would never hurt Gino! Dasia cried. Mommy wrapped her arms around her explaining that she needed to remember that Gino loved her and wanted to be everywhere that she was and that the Keep Out sign had to come off her door at once.

Dasia knew the time had come to tell Mommy about her plan and about Cooper. She reached under her bed pulled out her plan and handed it to her. Dasia tried to be patient

waiting for Mommy to finish reading when, to her surprise, Mommy laughed out loud.

Mommy explained to Dasia that being extra nice to Gino should be natural and that telling lies about anything is just unacceptable therefore Dasia must be punished for her actions. Dasia would not be allowed to watch television or go outside for one week.

Gino missed Dasia terribly and would visit her every day trying to get her to smile. He

would make funny faces, but Dasia still refused to smile.

tell her silly jokes he had already told her before

Mommy would often check on Dasia to find Gino sound asleep holding his Cars blanket right in front of her door. She would force herself to walk away quickly afraid he would awaken and see that she was crying for Mommy missed Dasia too!

It was the last day of Dasias punishment and Gino was moping around the kitchen.

Mommy told him to find his sneakers

put them on and come right back.

G Gino ran fo or his sneak kers put the em on and high tailed d it back to the kitchen n almost kn nocking d down a trea asured vas se Mommy had on a table t in the hallway.

M Mommy pu ut Gino in his h car seat t and told him h they we ere going fo or a ride. P Puzzled Gin no sat

i in his car seat wondering where e Mommy was w taking him. h A After what seemed re there l like forever r they arrive ed at the pet store. It I became quite q clear to Gino wh hy they wer a as he begg ged Momm my, can I give Cooper to Dasia, huh h Momm my can I; ca an I please M Mommy? Mommy co ould see ho ow much it meant to Gino G and sh he agreed that he mo ost c certainly co ould.

Are you re eady then li ittle man? Mommy asked as the ey pulled u up into the d driveway. S Shaking his s head yes s Gino prou udly marche ed to his sisters room m Cooper in n hand. He e k knocked on n Dasias door. d Com me in, Dasi ia said in almost a wh hisper. Mommy whisp pered i in Ginos ear telling him to wait until u Dasia opened he er door. Giino knocke ed again this time

a little hard der. When Dasia opened the do oor she saw w the cutes st little turtle e c could ever imagine sitting in Gin nos tiny hands.

she

F For the first time in a week Gino os face lit up u as he sa aw his siste er smile. An nd at that v very m moment Mommy eyes s filled with h tears as she s came to realize ju ust how mu uch Dasia a and G Gino really y had mean nt to one an nother (eve en if Gino was w holding g a turtle, a turtle she named C Cooper).

The End
2012 De eborah Rossi